


Reverberate

by AeroCat



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-23 23:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9686735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeroCat/pseuds/AeroCat
Summary: Nissa and Chandra's trip to Amonkhet is unexpectedly interrupted.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Since Magic Story doesn't resume for a few weeks, I thought I'd write a one-shot in it's absence.

“Um. Where are we?”

Chandra’s voice echoed, as if they were back in Kaladesh. There, their whispers had reverberated down in the tunnels under the night market. But they had left the night market long ago. While Nissa’s feet did not hit hard stone, as the floor had been in the tunnels, they also failed to find the comfort of soft earth.

It was as if she was standing on glass, suspended above endless darkness. A glance in any direction yielded the same pitch-blank answers. The only objects in view were herself and Chandra, both illuminated with an unnatural light.

The isolation had never felt like this before. Here, she wasn’t struggling to reach out to the world; not like on Ravnica or Kaladesh, where drowning out the noise, smells and sights were painful chores. And not like Zendikar, whose shattered remains had sat silent, an empty shell of what it once was.

There was no world here.

Or...was it something else? It wasn't just the world that felt wrong. Each movement took effort and felt dulled. It reminded her of the sensation of trying to eat after burning one’s tongue.

Nissa took a moment to gather what she  _did_ know.

_We-the Gatewatch-left Kaladesh for Amonkhet, as agreed. But this…_

“Nissa, this isn’t the place, right?” Chandra’s eyes darted from side to side, trying to make sense of the inky blackness.

“It can’t be. Something’s wrong.”

A fatigue sunk deep into Nissa’s body, and though Chandra’s movements were as lively as ever, there was a noticeable strain with each twist and turn of the pyromancer’s body.

There was sudden, unpredictable motion from Chandra. Her teeth bared and eyes widened, the same look she wore when she was trapped by Baral. She’d had enough with waiting, and decided to handle things the way she always did. With a coarse yell, she flung her arm forward, extending it outward into the dark. Nissa held her breath in anticipation of flames, but they didn’t come.

Instead, the pyromancer stood, arm still extended and body shaking. She turned to face Nissa, eyes full of fear.

Nissa looked down at her own hands, nodding. “So, it’s not just me.”

Chandra grabbed Nissa’s hands. The touch was unfamiliar and cold.

_Not cold, just...unusual. Like other humans. Unlike Chandra’s touch._

Though the temperature was different, the tug at her arm was the same old Chandra tug. But Nissa couldn’t keep up with Chandra’s stumbling, erratic movement, and she wrenched her hand away.

“Wait, Chandra.”

Instead of words, Nissa received a reply fully of motion. The pyromancer’s incredulous expression and flailing limbs communicated more than words could anyway, and Nissa tried her best to elaborate.

“I know you don’t want to wait. But let’s try to remain calm and walk forward for a while. Perhaps we’ll find an exit.”

Though she hid it, Nissa too wanted to run. She felt trapped. The dark was not kind here, and her rapid breaths had turned to a familiar press on her lungs. No matter her attempts, air felt like it didn’t reach her.

It was just like on Ravnica, when the city pressed too strong against her. But Nissa knew she’d be okay. Slow steps.

She thought about home, and then the beauty of Kaladesh. But that didn’t work. So accustomed to slipping into the world, the memories paled in comparison here.

So she thought of Chandra, above the city’s festivities, asleep and safe at her side.

\---

I grit my teeth at Nissa’s suggestion and go with it, even if I think it's a bad idea. It takes maybe two seconds before I’m already fed up with walking. It feels like we’re walking in place...and hell, maybe we _are_ walking in place! There’s no way to see if we’ve made any progress! But I keep my feet going, because I don’t want to think about what will happen if we don’t find a way out of here.

Something hits my face from above. I turn my neck upward in surprise and am greeted by rain smothering me. I’m instantly drenched.

I yell obscenities as loud as I can into the void, emptying the air from my lungs and wiping my eyes.

The rain is cold, but it’s the first thing we’ve encountered since we got here. Even so, Nissa is quiet. She just keeps walking, like she didn’t even notice that it started raining.

Well, fine. If we’re going to just walk in a straight line forever, no talking allowed, no problem! I cross my arms, cold and angry. Walking was a terrible idea, but what can I do? Planeswalk away? That isn’t working. Burn something up? That isn’t working either.

All of this reminds me of the vent pack dad had me wear, and then everything that happened afterwards, and it all tanks my mood to a level I didn’t think was possible.

It’s quiet, except for the rain, but even that doesn’t make much sound. It’s like it disappears the minute it hits the ground. I wish it’d just fill up this stupid place and drown us or something. At least then we’d see water.

After what feels like forever, there’s the tiniest noise to my left. Besides the rain, anyway, which has just made a constant ssssssssssssssshhh sound.

It takes a minute to figure out what the noise is, but then I realize Nissa is crying. It’s quiet, more tears and way less noisy than the terrible bawling that I do, but it’s there.

Way to go Chandra! I bite at a strand of wet hair in frustration. My thoughts about Nissa have been all over the place since Kaladesh, and instead of thanking her, I’m being a terrible grump while she cries.

I do the first thing I think of: I wrap her in a big hug to keep her warm. _Wait, stupid, she doesn’t like it when y-_

The weight that presses back catches me off guard-she’s pushed herself deep into my hold. One of her long ears barely grazes my nose.

“You okay?” I ask.

Silence. The quiet is killing me, but that's just how Nissa is...except then she starts to slide down my chest, like her legs stopped working or something. I help ease her down to the floor and think about how often my own legs have failed me when I needed them lately.

“Nissa?”

“You’re still warm.” She says, her voice soft.

As she speaks, her breath tickles my neck. I feel the blood rise to my face. Mom makes fun of me all the time about it. “Your ears turn red, just like your father,” she’d say.  Any other day, I’d probably spark up a bit as well, but that doesn’t seem to happen in the messed-up place.

“Yeah. You too,” I manage to sputter.

We sit in silence for a while. I was ticked off about it earlier; now I’ve become hyper-aware of just how close we are, and I’m afraid that if I open my mouth I’ll say something stupid like I always do.  

Eventually, Nissa removes her cloak with a gentle motion and offers it to me. I take it, wrapping it around us and holding it above our heads, trying to keep some of the rain at bay.

“Back on Kaladesh, something...changed.” My words start to run, and biting the inside of my mouth doesn’t stop it. My voice sounds too loud under the cloak. “If we ever get out of here I still want to learn to meditate. But remember what I said about feeling your mind? How it was calming?”

No response. Just her eyes, less green than usual, but still driving right into my own. Maybe she doesn’t remember. Abort, Chandra! Hurry!

“You know, it was back in the garden. You were sitting all quiet and a plant was stabbing me in the butt.” Great. I take a deep breath, focusing on how Nissa does it. Mine sounds more like a dying gasp. “I was just thinking, this blows, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to us, but I’m glad I don’t have to sit here alone. I...”

I lean over her, trying to help shield her further from the rain. “Everything happened so fast. The titans, going back home...finding my mom! And through all of that, you helped me out, stayed with me, protected me, even if you didn’t have to.” I keep dodging the thought, until it starts to tumble from my lips, way too fast and with no setup. This is not how you ask people out, and I know it’s over.

“And Nissa, I think I lo-”

A sudden surge of mana slams into me; I can feel the fire fluttering in my chest again. At the same time, the rain just _ends_. Light breaks open from above and the ground sprouts upward under my feet. It’s as if we were never in the world’s biggest, darkest pit, and instead were hanging out in a sunlit meadow.

I let out a holler and my body moves of it’s own accord. Tossing the cloak into the air, I plant a kiss on Nissa’s cheek-partially because I’m excited, but my brain scolds me for copping out-and shift my weight in preparation to stand and run towards the distant trees.

A soft hand on my arm stops me though. I freeze and I face Nissa, and the lightest kiss I’ve ever felt falls onto my lips.

\---

Perhaps it’s the expectation of death that convinced her to do it.

But in that moment, the relief of sunlight, the feeling of the world beneath her, the flow of mana-and Chandra’s face, so close to hers; an irresistible pull and an energizing comfort…

The familiar, almost burning warmth had returned to Chandra’s body. Nissa wondered idly if she’d be burned by a stray tendril of flame, as were wont to flutter near Chandra’s face. As Chandra’s hands found her back she ignored the thought, choosing instead to become lost in the feeling.

The pyromancer handled attraction as she did all other things: she was clumsy, but the honesty in the motions was raw and real. It was a language Nissa _almost_  understood. At first, she tried to mimic it. Soon she realized that the connection worked better if she was true to her own nature, and allowed her reply to Chandra's enthusiastic embrace to become calm and steady.

Nissa was still learning. Countless years of being...not alone, but not with others, either, meant she had a lot of catching up to do. But Chandra was the first person she had felt close to, and she wanted to make sure Chandra knew that.

It was Chandra that broke the kiss. Her face was flush, though Nissa was sure she mirrored the look.

“Woah,” Chandra murmured to herself.

Nissa’s eyes met Chandra’s. She felt her mouth curl at the edges; an irrepressible smile, speaking true from her soul. Chandra’s own eyes shined, and she let out a nervous giggle before pressing her forehead against Nissa’s own.

The two sat quiet, recovering from both the unnerving experience in the dark and the initial shock of the kiss. Nissa was glad she didn’t have to worry about words, and hoped that Chandra had inferred enough about her feelings.

Eventually, Nissa’s eyes moved past the woman in front of her, towards the dark mass in the distance. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but the moving void was likely what they had been wandering in moments before. She wondered if it was some type of mana-inhibiting dead-zone, if not something even stranger.

Regardless, it wasn’t something she wanted to learn about today. They could relay the information to Jace; he might know more about it.

“Aha...well, we should get out of here,” Chandra remarked, glancing where Nissa was looking as she stood. “I guess we can try to planeswalk again? Hopefully this time we actually get there.”

Nissa rose and reached out to hold Chandra’s hand. Ajani’s concern over Nicol Bolas came back to her, and she held the hand tighter.

She trusted the Gatewatch. If they thought they could do it, then Nissa knew it could be done.

And either way...

She wanted to be by Chandra's side.


End file.
